Sewing machines

Does anyone here sew? I am considering buying a sewing machine as my husband assures me that I can figure it out. I'm not looking for anything huge and pricey. Just something to mend clothes, hems, and just some simple sewing. Does anyone have any suggestions as to which is a better brand, etc?

for new machines, you can get an exllent basic Janome. that's what I have and love it. newer Brother and Singer aren't the best quality.... they're okay, but give me a Janome any day!

I have an Elna but it is a heavy duty so that I can sew leather and denim and my mom made quilts on it.

You might want to check a few pawn shops. I picked up a pretty good machine for less than $20. Not, it's not fancy. But, as you say, it does a good basic job.

I like to sew but never any big projects and I always do it by hand.

Sewing machines scare me, but only because a good friend of the family once sewed through the tip of her finger!!

I guess she didn't know how to use one very well.... ^^;

I have been very interested in sewing lately, because I feel like there is so much you can do to alter clothes and stuff, and besides watching project runway inspires me a lot
I took an arts and crafts class that included sewing when I was in middle school and I barely passed that part though. I was terrible with my hands when I was younger, and I feel like I'm getting better now, I'm becoming more patient to follow directions, so I'm not giving up hope.
And sewing machines scare me a lot too- I am generally afraid of needles so just watching that needle move so fast freaks me out. But I'm sure I can get over it eventually if I try..
I want to get a sewing machine but I'm not sure I'll use it enough to justify me buying it...I guess I'll wait until I'm even more bored and have the time to play around and learn new crafty things.

I own 3 Husquavarna's (made by Viking). I've used Singers, Kenmores, Necci, Rex, and others and didn't like any of those nearly as much. After I bought the Serger, I went back and bought just a normal machine, then went on to buy their embroidery machine.

I actually own 6 machines in total. I only use the Husquavarnas.

The singer simple, is an inexpensive sewing machine that does a good job. I have one and its held up very well.

Not to hijack the thread, but we have the sewing machine my wife learned to sew on. It's a Singer Featherweight 222. Keep in mind Dottie's dad was in the Army and moved around the world, to such places as Nome, Alaska, and Okinawa. This little thing was great for them.

It went through a house fire about 35 years ago, but I've gone through it and gotten it working again.

http://www.singer-featherweight.com/...-bargains.html

Originally Posted by mrblanche

Not to hijack the thread, but we have the sewing machine my wife learned to sew on. It's a Singer Featherweight 222. Keep in mind Dottie's dad was in the Army and moved around the world, to such places as Nome, Alaska, and Okinawa. This little thing was great for them.

It went through a house fire about 35 years ago, but I've gone through it and gotten it working again.

http://www.singer-featherweight.com/...-bargains.html

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I've seen one of those!! It's pretty fascinating.. My grandmother has one, I guess the european version that isn't a singer but looks exactly the same.. I don't know how people learned to sew because you have to constantly turn the handle with one hand and still know what you're doing with just the other hand..And then for professionals I was told they had sewing machines with a pedal by your feet that you have to swing back and forth with your feet so you can have both hands free..

i sew a lot....... but i had given it up for a number of years and around christmas took it up again. On boxing day I went to walmart and got a decent, basic, brother machine for about $150. Then I went on kijiji and found someone in the area who gave private lessons and got a refresher course to re-learn the machine. Someone earlier said that brother machines aren't the best quality, but I use mine literally daily (currently sew all my own clothes), bring it around with me and am fairly abusive and it works great. However really, for what you want to do any basic model would work. Goodwill and other such places often have basic machines and would be worth looking into. I do recommend trying to find someone who knows their way around a sewing machine to help you out at the start!

good luck!

Originally Posted by ut0pia

I've seen one of those!! It's pretty fascinating.. My grandmother has one, I guess the european version that isn't a singer but looks exactly the same.. I don't know how people learned to sew because you have to constantly turn the handle with one hand and still know what you're doing with just the other hand..And then for professionals I was told they had sewing machines with a pedal by your feet that you have to swing back and forth with your feet so you can have both hands free..

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Well, actually, it's electric. And, oddly enough, it was made in England.

My grandmother had a treadle Singer.

Originally Posted by mrblanche

Well, actually, it's electric. And, oddly enough, it was made in England.

My grandmother had a treadle Singer.

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oh wow what we have must be a real antique then

Originally Posted by ut0pia

oh wow what we have must be a real antique then

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Not in the 1950's, it wasn't. It was the machine my mother learned on, so it was about 20 years old, give or take, which means my grandparents bought it during the depression.

I remember watching my mother use it many times.

This is exactly what it looked like.

http://www.mulewagon.com/product/0/S...er_974552.html

I was shopping for something other than a Singer because the current models weren't getting great reviews.
But, all I needed it for was light sewing - like you are talking about.
I shopped price - and in my price range, the Singer seemed to have what I was looking for - I found the Singer Precision 7444 on sale and purchased it.
Here is the machine's info:
http://www.singerco.com/products/pro...roduct_id=1376

Here is Amazon's info with reviews:
http://www.amazon.com/Singer-Stitch-...7698694&sr=8-1

As for me - it does the job, and I'm kinda surprised - I like it - especially the easy changes to stitch patterns. I haven't used it to it's fullest capacity - but then, if I do decide to get serious about something at least I have a machine that is capable of more types of jobs.

Here is the Google Search results: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&c...&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

The ONLY reason I was looking for another machine is because my OLD Singer's motor died (after about 55 years - it was my mom's machine that she bought -used- as a treadle in 1950's) and I couldn't find a replacement motor that worked. It is a beautiful machine - still works - if only it had a motor.

I have one of the current Singers from Walmart (couldn't and probably will never be able to afford a Janome) and it works GREAT!! It has never locked up on me or broken a thread, and I've never had any problems with it like I did with my last machine. I've used it for some pretty heavy duty stuff, including sewing through some heavy material and making quilts, and again never had a problem. I was a little ticked off when I went into a quilting store and they asked me what kind of machine I had and I told them, and she gave me a dirty look and pretty much ignored me from then on.

I have the Singer 7422 Advance

Does anyone want to come show me how to use a serger? My mom got me one for xmas a few years ago and I have yet to even take it out of the box b/c it intimidates me. lol

Check out YouTube.com - sometimes you'll find demos there.

Originally Posted by kara_leigh

Does anyone want to come show me how to use a serger? My mom got me one for xmas a few years ago and I have yet to even take it out of the box b/c it intimidates me. lol

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I don't, and Dottie doesn't, but Dottie has a friend who is an expert with them.

Serging is something my grandma knows how to do, if I ever have pants that are too long and need to be cut and hemmed I always ask her to do it and she does it in 2 seconds...I'm pretty amazed and I want to learn but too bad she lives overseas so I can't ask her to teach me..

How to use a Serging Machine demos - just a couple - there are tons more.


for a BabyLock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPVkU...eature=related